Police Negotiating Board for Scotland meeting: June 2024

Attendees and apologies

Chair

Lisa Blackett, Independent

Official Side

David Algie, Official Side Secretariat
Graham D’Arcy, Police Scotland 
Stuart Houston, Police Scotland 
Ewen Logie, Police Scotland 
John MacLean, Scottish Police Authority 
Fiona McQueen, Scottish Police Authority
Sarah Messenger, Official Side Secretary
Nicky Page, Police Scotland 
Caroline Stuart, Scottish Police Authority
Donna Turnbull, Scottish Government

Staff Side

Gordon Cummings, Scottish Police Federation
Lorna Cunningham, Scottish Police Federation
Iain Gray, Scottish Police Federation
Rob Hay, Association of Scottish Police Superintendents
Steve Johnson, Scottish Police Chief Officers Staff Association 
Brian Jones, Scottish Police Federation
David Kennedy, Staff Side Secretary
James McLaren, Scottish Police Federation
Emma-Louise Smith, Scottish Police Federation
David Threadgold, Scottish Police Federation

Items and actions

Welcome

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and members gave brief introductions. The Chair then invited views on the format of meetings. Members agreed to keep timings as is and that meetings should continue to be in person with a hybrid option introduced as a contingent arrangement for those unable to attend.

Minutes from previous meeting on 14 February 2024

Members approved the minutes of the previous meeting.

Matters arising

No matters raised.

Pay update

a.    Pay negotiations 2024-25 

The Staff Side submitted the pay claim for 2024-25 on 10 May. The Official Side are still considering the claim and will contact the Joint Secretariat once they are in a position to continue negotiations. The Staff Side and Official Side are committed to try and resolve the pay claim through constructive dialogue.

b.    Pay agreement 2023-24

Representatives of the Official and Staff Side, along with the Chair have participated in a procurement exercise to identify a provider to carry out the research which formed part of the 2023-24 pay agreement. Once a provider is confirmed the Secretariat will share details with members. The Sides will then work with the provider to agree timelines and next steps. 

Operations and Review Group

The Chair noted that the Operations and Review Group is now closed. Two outstanding actions from the group are being taken forward by the Secretariat:

a.    Publication of PNBS meeting minutes

Members agreed to the proposed approach to the recording and publication of PNBS minutes. The Secretariat will share minutes of previous meetings for agreement by correspondence before taking these forward for publication. Minutes of future meetings will be agreed for publication at the following PNBS.

b.    Creation of an action log and tracker

Members agreed in principle on the proposed approach to a PNBS tracker and that the purpose is to provide a framework of accountability while demonstrating progress on actions. Members noted that the status and/or closure of some actions will need to be considered when there are certain changes, such as the action lead and status of any outputs. The Secretariat agreed to work with the Technical Working Group (TWG) to populate the tracker and explore how this will work in practice.

Technical Working Group (TWG)

Members welcomed the update from the TWG and were content to ratify the three recommendations presented. 

• The need for a PNBS circular that formally ratifies an agreement reached at PNB in 2020 to provide two weeks full pay if the officer suffers the death of a child under the age of 18 or suffers a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy. [wording in italics to be finalised]
• The extension of the time period that maternity/adoption support leave can be taken to 52 weeks after the birth (currently 56 days) for children born from 25 June 2024.
• The ability to now take maternity/adoption support leave in two separate blocks of 1 week (currently required to be taken in one block) for children born from 25 June 2024.

Members highlighted the considerable work going on at TWG to take forward a wide range of actions and were grateful to representatives of both Sides who attend TWG.

Secretariat to work with TWG members to populate and test the tracker with the actions highlighted in the paper shared with members.

Regulations and determinations update

The Police Service of Scotland (Amendment) Regulations 2024 were laid in Parliament on 20 June and will come into force on 4 October 2024, subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.

The Scottish Government are finalising determinations which they aim to consult with members on over the summer.

Members welcomed the update and thanked all those who have contributed to this work.

Pensions update 

Members were concerned that the paper provided by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) did not adequately reflect the position members are facing, and that as this is such a complex and fast moving area it would be more appropriate to have an SPPA representative at the meeting to offer clarity. Members agreed to invite SPPA to attend the October PNBS meeting to allow discussion in more detail.

Any other business

The Chair informed members that the Scottish Police Consultative Forum (SPCF) agreed to set up a working group to consider potential changes to conduct and performance regulations. The first meeting of the group will take place on 25 July.

The Chair asked members to consider with their Sides feedback on the venue, location and frequency of PNBS meetings to help plan for meetings in 2025. Members to provide any feedback to the Secretariat.

Date of next meeting

Tuesday 31 October at Victoria Quay, Edinburgh.